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SINGAPORE: Last month, this reporter caught the production Old Sounds, the inaugural offering from contemporary dance company T.H.E.
Choreographed by company artistic director and former Singapore Dance Theatre principal dancer Kuik Swee Boon, it was a flurry of activity — thanks to the dancers and their “virtual selves” who at certain parts simultaneously moved in slow-mo or went free-falling on-screen, courtesy of multimedia footage by Brazilian video artist Gabriela Tropia Gomes.
It was a challenging and inventive work from one of Singapore’s foremost young choreographers.
But it was also, as one newspaper reviewer so succinctly put it, a “battle for the eyeball”.
Literally, in my case — my eyes were furiously darting back and forth as I gamely tried to keep up with everything happening on stage.
Although I’m by no means a purist, I must admit having a fleeting thought as I stepped out of the black box rubbing my eyes: What happened to, you know, just plain ol’ dancing?
NOT A NEW PHENOMENON
The use of video and various other media in contemporary dance is by no means a new phenomenon, even in Singapore.
You can check them out in productions by TheatreWorks or at the Singapore Arts Festival.
And at the Esplanade, you’ve got the regular Studio Season programme and the annual da:ns Festival.
This year’s festival, which opens on Thursday, includes three contemporary dance pieces incorporating multimedia and video works.
Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve’s loopy version of Coppelia has been compared to the works of film-makers Pedro Almodovar and Tim Burton — and strangely enough, also features a giant eyeball.
Nederlands Dans Theatre I’s (NDT) double-bill includes choreographer duo Lightfoot Leon’s Silent Screen, again using video.
Ditto Japan’s Leni-Basso for Ghostly Round, which will be using computers to project film images of, among other things, past rehearsals.
In all of these, such elements are not simply “props” but are tightly interwoven with the choreography itself.
CONTEMPORARY DANCE = VIDEOS?
If you’re one to pine for the days when dance pieces weren’t the artistic equivalent of watching an Olympic table tennis match, sorry, but you’ll just have to get with the programme.
The people behind these shows told TODAY that in the world of contemporary dance, multimedia is here to stay.
“For a few years now, there seems to have been a systematic use of new media, especially video, in relation to dance. If a contemporary work claims to be so, it cannot do without video,” said Coppelia’s Cisco Aznar, 35, who will use animation, puppetry and film in his piece.
He has no problem with this, since according to him, dance has always been associated with other art forms, citing shamans who would dance while using masks.
But the Catalan choreographer (who professes admiration for film-makers David Lynch and John Waters) added that the use of multimedia is sometimes just a trend: “Unfortunately, this use is often dictated by fashion rather than motivated by artistic concerns.”
It can also even be a way of hiding a lack of talent. As NDT artistic director Anders Hellstrom, 46, pointed out: “One sees too often choreographers adding multimedia (because of) a lack of choreographic skills.”
MORE TO LOOK AT
Gratuitous? A cop-out? That can be highly subjective. What isn’t, however, is the undeniable fact that flashing videos onstage ensures one thing: If you’ve got the attention span of a guppy, there are more things to look at.
Is this contemporary dance’s way of adjusting to a generation of audiences who have grown visually spoilt?
Not so. Everyone unanimously dismissed the idea that audiences have become lazy trying to interpret dance itself.
In fact, Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve’s artistic director Philippe Cohen said videos bring an added dimension and energy that audiences today are familiar with.
“We are in a society that is influenced by television images,” he said.
For Japanese choreographer Akiko Kitamura, using multimedia is very much an integral part of her shows.
The 37-year-old founder of Leni-Basso has been using multimedia since 1988, and said that for Ghostly Round, it will be a way to complement the live performance and gives audiences an “additional insight” into the piece.
She then proceeded to give us a technical and detailed account of exactly how important the projections are, which led us to think she really can’t live without those computers...
STILL THE RIGHT MOVES
That said, Cohen pointed out that there’s still the danger of audiences being “absorbed and distracted... and forget the visual beauty of the dance”.
That’s one thing choreography duo Lightfoot Leon are trying to avoid as they use multimedia for the first time, for Silent Screen.
Inspired by a silent film about Napoleon, they will be projecting an image onto three screens, but they will also make sure it won’t “swallow up” the choreography.
NDT’s Hellstrom added: “A good choreography can create an experience that is enough in itself, that speaks a language which is sufficient to reach the audience.”
Which is really, what dance is all about, don’t you think? - TODAY/ar
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